Bangladesh’s energy future is often framed as a climate challenge. This investigation reveals a deeper reality: it is increasingly a question of economic sovereignty. While the country continues to spend billions on imported fossil fuels, renewable energy remains trapped by financing bottlenecks, fragmented governance, and an investment system that rewards short-term dependence over long-term resilience. This comprehensive study on renewable energy investment in Bangladesh un

Bangladesh’s industrial future is being shaped by a quiet but urgent challenge: how to keep its vast network of small and medium enterprises competitive in a world that increasingly demands low-carbon production. These businesses power jobs, exports, and local economies, yet remain heavily dependent on fossil-fuel-based electricity, outdated machinery, and fragmented support systems locking in both high emissions and rising costs. As global markets tighten climate requirement

This report investigates how the rapid rise in Dhaka’s vehicle population is shaping the city’s worsening air quality, using a decade of monthly data and advanced time-series models to untangle both short- and long-term effects. Drawing on datasets from BRTA, DoE, and BMD, it shows that motor vehicles and cargo transport are major long-run drivers of pollution, while winter weather patterns sharply intensify particulate concentration. The analysis reveals that rainfall and mo

The Climate Debt Risk Index 2025 (CDRI’25) unveils the uncomfortable truth that nations least responsible for climate change now shoulder its greatest financial burdens, forced to borrow for survival in a world that owes them reparations. Bridging data and justice, CDRI’25 exposes how loan-heavy climate finance deepens inequality across 55 vulnerable economies and redefines climate debt as a moral and legal obligation under the emerging paradigm of *Natural Rights-Led Governa

The CDRI - 02 (2025): Bangladesh Report tells a powerful story about Bangladesh’s struggle to survive climate disasters while being pushed into debt to pay for its own recovery. It shows how a system meant to help vulnerable nations has instead created a cycle where resilience comes at the cost of borrowing, leaving people and public budgets under pressure. The report calls for a fundamental shift in climate finance from loans to grants so that countries like Bangladesh can p

The NDC 3.0 study is crucial for Bangladesh to enhance its climate ambition in line with global targets, particularly focusing on the energy sector and renewable energy deployment. As Bangladesh faces severe climate vulnerability, an upgraded NDC can integrate both mitigation and adaptation strategies to secure a sustainable and resilient future. The study will provide a data-driven framework for setting more ambitious emission reduction targets, leveraging renewable energy a

Once celebrated for its natural charm, Dhaka now stands at a critical juncture overwhelmed by relentless urban sprawl and ecological decay. This study traces the city's transformation from 1980 to 2024 through satellite imagery, land use analysis, and Land Surface Temperature (LST) trends, uncovering a dramatic decline in nature’s presence. Over this period, Dhaka lost nearly half of its tree cover, 60% of its waterbodies, and 56% of grass and agricultural land, while built-u

Climate Debt Risk Index 2024 The Climate Debt Risk Index (CDRI) 2024 presents a stark indictment of the deepening financial precarity faced by Least Developed Countries (LDCs), driven by a disproportionate reliance on debt-based climate finance. Despite contributing a mere 3.3% to global carbon emissions, LDCs struggle with mounting climate debt, with their debt service tripling between 2011 and 2019. Post-pandemic projections indicate an unsustainable annual burden exceedi

Bangladesh’s solar power sector is mired in rent-seeking practices and elite capture, inflating costs and distorting solar market efficiency. Our analysis shows that the true levelized cost of electricity (LCoE) for solar should be approximately 5.78 cents/kWh, yet government-sanctioned solar tariffs are nearly double, reflecting regulatory capture and energy sector corruption. Land acquisition costs, a critical factor in solar project feasibility, are systematically manipula

Executive Summary This particular study aims to assess the current status of solar-based net metering systems in Bangladesh and explore their potential for driving a renewable energy transition. The specific objectives included examining the current status of net solar system installations, evaluating the cost-benefit of implementing net-meter based solar systems in industrial premises, and exploring the scalability of such installations in Export Processing Zones (EPZs). Des

Executive Summary Bangladesh has a target of generating 40% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2041, as per the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan (MCPP). However, as of the publication of the report, Bangladesh ranks 111 out of 190 countries in renewable energy usage; achieved only 4.59% of renewable energy with installed capacity of 461 MW of renewable energy capacity, mainly from solar power, and has planned another 4115 MW of projects in various stages of development

Dhaka’s severe traffic congestion, declining air quality, and rising CO₂ emissions present urgent challenges for sustainable urban mobility. This paper conducts a political economy analysis (PEA) of fuel-efficient vehicle (FEV) promotion in the capital, where transport contributes 14% of national GHG emissions. With an average car speed dropping to 7 km/h and 3.2 million working hours lost daily—translating to an annual economic loss of USD 2.68 billion—the inefficiencies of

Executive Summary Climate change is a major threat to human civilization, with two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions linked to burning fossil fuels for energy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that any delay in global action on adaptation and mitigation could lead to missed opportunities for a habitable and sustainable future. Despite contributing less than 1% of global carbon emissions, Bangladesh is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries, an

Executive Summary The tea industry of Bangladesh plays a crucial role in the economy of the country, accounting for the direct livelihoods of over 350,000 people living in tea garden areas (ILO, 2014). Tea is one of the important cash crops and a food commodity for export out of the country. Employers prefer to engage women to harvest tea leaves, as they are more skilled and cheaper labor than. The workers are generally live in poverty and their livelihood solely depends on t

Background A rise in sea levels and coastal erosion could lead to a loss of 17% of land surface and 30% food production by 2050. It has been predicted that only due to heat stress per year GDP losses would be 4.9% or at least USD 30 billion losses by 2030; and 3.83 million full-time job losses by 2030. Climate-fueled disasters (e.g., drought, floods, and storms) would cause of around USD 4.075 billion losses per year by 2030. And one-third of Bangladesh population at risk of